Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Barring last-minute change of mind, Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo will assent the 2017 appropriation bill into law
on Thursday by 9:00am at the presidential villa

A reliable source confirmed that the acting president has communicated
the date and time to the leadership of the National Assembly.

Recall that on May 17, Osinbajo said that he would assent to the 2017 budget.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed had earlier told State House reporters
after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by Osinbajo that
the decision on who to sign the budget would be taken when the document
is transmitted to the Presidency.

But Osinbajo, via a Twitter statement by his spokesman Laolu Akande, said the question on who would sign the budget was clear.

According to the statement, when the time comes, everything is set and
he is satisfied, the acting president will sign the budget.

“Just so we are clear: when the time comes, everything is set and he is
satisfied, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo will assent to the 2017
budget,” the statement read.

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, on Wednesday, said he
was much aware of various views on him by his critics within and
outside the state.
The governor stated this during an interactive session with
Journalists in Sokoto as part of the activities marking his two years in
office.
He said being a digital governor with vast knowledge in the social
media, he took ample time to read both subjective and objective comments
by the people.
The governor further admitted that he often has cause to review them and do the needful.
Tambuwal answered various questions ranging from; his frequent travel
out of the state, the ongoing verification exercise within local
government civil service, loan profile under his administration and his
view on Buhari’s anti corruption war, among others.
He said his frequent travel out of Sokoto was not sometimes
pre-determined, adding that, official and personal issues due arose to
that effect.
“Just few days ago, former President Obasanjo invited me to chair an
event organised for the youth at his Library. The invitation was
impromptus and I had to honour it even without been a governor.”
Tambuwal explained.
On the ghost workers syndrome in the state, the governor vowed that
the ongoing verification exercise of civil servants would continue, even
if it would cost him his second term bid.
His words: “For instance, somebody from Zamfara state bought some
offers that representing that 270 staff salaries from Tureta local
governments would be coming to his purse on monthly basis.
“We discovered the fraud and they were removed. The culprit even have
the guts of sending a text message to the SSG threatening legal action.
“Another example is Binji local government. The council had not been
getting N10 million as its monthly allocation but its salary is N30
million,” the governor lamented.
The Governor disclosed that no fewer than N300 million are still
unclaimed at the Jaiz bank, waiting for genuine workers of the local
government to come and claim them.
On the loan profile under his administration, Tambuwal said the loans
were secured in good faith and meeting his government obligations to
the people.
The governor the state was not owing salaries and allowances of
workers while all pensions have been cleared up-to-date, saying, he
could not sleep with his two eyes closed while his workers were not
paid.

The Kaduna State House of Assembly at its preliminary sitting yesterday screened the nominees for the Governing Board of Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
The nominees scheduled to be screened are five but only four of them were present for the screening. Those screened are Aliyu Yahaya Sa’ad, as member representing Private Sector in the state, Lawal Danladi as member representing Zone 1, Isa. A. Shika as member representing Zone 2, and Mary Luka as member representing Zone 3, while Segun Onigbinde as member representing CSO who engages in causes relating to Probity, Transparency and Good Governance was absent for the screening.
The House resolved to give Mr. Segun Onigbinde another chance to appear for the screening, noting that if he fails, it would advise the executive to nominate another person and he be withdrawn.
Hon. Labari Shelly Tella (Jema’a constituency)? said he believes the nominees are old enough to know what will be good for Kaduna State and its people and he believes that they would work within that capacity.
Meanwhile, the House at plenary also passed into Law the Bill to Establish the Kaduna State Mortgages and Foreclosure Authority, 2017

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has signed two new laws that will
facilitate access to more affordable credit facilities for businesses in
the country. The new Acts are the Secured Transactions in Movable
Assets Act, 2017 (otherwise known as Collateral Registry Act) and the
Credit Reporting Act, 2017.

In a statement released
by Osibanjo's spokesman, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesman, he
said;

"The passage of these Acts would facilitate the achievement of the
goals of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC)
set up by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2016 and chaired by the
Vice-President to progressively make Nigeria an easier place for
businesses to start and thrive. "

Read the full statement below..

Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo has signed into law two bills from the National
Assembly that will ultimately facilitate access to more affordable
credit for Nigerians.

The bills which have now become ‘Acts’ are
the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act, 2017 (otherwise known as
Collateral Registry Act) and the Credit Reporting Act, 2017.

‘The
Collateral Registry Act’ ensures that Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria can register their movable assets such as
motor vehicles, equipment and accounts receivable in the National
Collateral Registry, and use same as collateral for accessing loans.
This in turn will increase their chances at accessing financing and
tackle one of the major obstacles faced by MSMEs.

On the other
hand, ‘The Credit Reporting Act’ provides for credit information sharing
between Credit Bureaus and lenders (such as banks), as well as other
institutions that provide services on credit such as telecommunication
companies and retailers.

(A Credit Bureau is defined as a company
that collects information relating to the credit ratings of individuals
and makes it available to financial institutions, who need such
information to determine an individual’s credit-worthiness and whether
or not to grant loan applications to such individuals.)

Access to
credit is critical to economic growth and is considered to be the motor
for driving private sector development. However, in Nigeria more than
70 per cent of private enterprises, typically MSMEs, have limited or no
access to credit. Credit applications get rejected due to insufficient
credit history and information for the lender to use to make a
reasonable judgement, as well as unacceptable collateral. The two new
Acts remove those obstacles for MSMEs.

Traditionally, banks only
give loans to businesses that can provide fixed land and property as
collateral. This shuts out MSMEs which usually own only movable assets
like motor vehicles and equipment. The Collateral Registry Bill, 2017,
will give confidence to lenders to utilise the Registry and thereby make
credit available to MSMEs and individuals through the use of their
movable assets as collateral.

The Credit Reporting Act now
enables lenders to make reasonable judgement on whether or not to extend
credit to an individual, and reduces the cases of bad loans.

On
February 21, 2017, the leadership of the National Assembly publicly
committed to passing the two bills as part of the 60-Day National Action
Plan for Ease of Doing Business initiated by the Presidential Enabling
Business Environment Council (PEBEC). That promise was kept by the
National Assembly last week with the bills forwarded to the Acting
President for assent.

With the passage of these Acts, the
existing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Guidelines regulating the
operations of the National Collateral Registry and Credit Bureaux have
now been replaced by formal legal frameworks.

The passage of
these Acts would facilitate the achievement of the goals of the
Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) set up by
President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2016 and chaired by the
Vice-President to progressively make Nigeria an easier place for
businesses to start and thrive.

Members of the House of Representatives have commended H.E Governor
Ibrahim Gaidam for the effort he made so far in the rehabilitation of
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and the reconstruction of facilities
and infrastructure destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in parts of the
state affected by their terrorist activity.
Chairman of the House
Committee on IDPs and Refugees Hon. Muhammad Sani Zoro who led members
of his committee and those of the committee on emergencies and disaster
preparedness on a fact-finding mission to Yobe State said, during a
courtesy call on the governor at Government House Damaturu this
afternoon, that the commendation followed a motion moved by Hon. Goni
Bukar Lawan from Yobe State, who called attention to the effort of
Governor Gaidam in devoting the lean resources of the state to helping
victims of Boko Haram insurgency.
"The House unanimously resolved
to commend Your Excellency for the effort and decided to write a
commendation letter to you signed by the Clerk of the National Assembly -
meaning the entire institution of the National Assembly", Zoro said.
Zoro added that the House found the Yobe Model which encouraged the
integration of IDPs within host comunities as exemplary. "By the law of
internal idsplacement, this is the best way to manage internal
displacement", he said.
Zoro said the House also resolved to
call on the federal government to pay 'massive compensation' to Yobe,
Borno and Adamawa States for the resources and funds they expended in
catering to a myriad of challenges and needs as a result of the Boko
Haram insurgency.
The House Committee Chairman also spoke about
the need to give the three most affected states the means to directly
use funds to support rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected
areas.
He explained that this is important because the federal
agencies responsible for humanitarian interventions in the Northeast,
such as the National Commission for Refugees and the Presidential
Committee on Northeast Initiative are 'weak' and 'not capable' of
addressing all the problems of the region.
He said the problem of
corruption is also a challenge in the humanitarian intervention
universe, a fact which has made some international organisations to
withold some of their to assistance to IDPs because of lack of
transparency in the conduct of some of the organisations.
Zoro
said the federal government and partner international organisations such
as the United Nations who want to channel humanitarian assistance
through the state governments should not hesitate to do so "provided
certain guidelines are followed for how the funds could be used because
the interventions of the state governments are also systematic".
On his part, H.E Gov. Gaidam thanked the leadership of the House of
Represenatives for their concern, saying the visit by the two committees
will afford members the opportunity to interact with stakeholders and
have a sense of the devastations and destructions of public and private
property caused by Boko Haram.
The governor said that the
failure of the previous Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government to
finance the war against Boko Haram fully and effectively made his
administration to deploy the meagre resources at its disposal to helping
the campaign against Boko Haram insurgents through the payment of
allowances to security operatives, procurement and maintenance of
vehicles, logistics, medical assitance to security agents and provision
of relief and medical assitance to victims, amongst others.
He
said that by the end of the first quarter of 2015, the Yobe State
Government had spent a total of N15.8 billion in Boko Haram-related
expenses.
The governor regretted, however, that despite the huge
costs to the Yobe State Government, the Jonathan administration gave the
state N150 million only in "sharp contrast to the huge budgetary
allocation to the security sector by that administration".
H.E
Gov. Gaidam commended the effort of the Buhari administration and the
Nigerian security forces and vigilante groups for the return of peace in
the state.
He called on the House Committees to follow up on
their call for compensation to be paid by the federal government and
called for more support to help victims of Boko Haram violence rebuild
and reclaim their lives.

A Katsina
state government project verification committee has uncovered a total
712 projects believed to have been executed and paid by the
administration, 32 of them were found not executed, 6 abandoned just as
12 others not documented.

The
total 712 projects are valued at about N8.4b and were said to be
executed by six MDA's; Ministry of Education and Health, Science and
Technical Board, State Universal Basic Education, Universal Basic
Education commission, and the Sustainable Development Goals SDG's

Presenting,
the report, the acting chairman of the committee, Umar Rigoji said 581
of the projects have been executed and completed satisfactorily, 52
poorly and partially executed while 26 are ongoing.

He
said, each project site was visited and fully assessed before reaching a
verdict adding that 'for those poorly or partially executed, unexecuted
and or abandoned government may look at the terms and conditions
governing them and seek for legal redress'

In
his remarks, governor Aminu Masari commended the committee for the work
and assured the consultants and staff at the MDA's must be made
accountable saying that the administration has been receiving complains
especially on the social media which prompted the constitution of the
independent verification committee.

The Federal Government has said the freed Chibok schoolgirls would not return to their former schools in Chibok, Borno State.
Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Al-Hassan stated this while formally
receiving the girls from the director of the Department of State
Services (DSS) Medical Centre, Anne Okoroafor, at the National Women
Development Centre, Abuja, yesterday.
The Federal Government also clarified that the rescued 106 Chibok
schoolgirls were not under compulsion to remain within its care as any
of them who wished to join their parents was free to do so.
No fewer than 219 girls were abducted from their school in April
2014. While the government rescued 103, three others were said to have
escaped from Boko Haram captivity. At least 113 are still in the hands
of the terrorists.
Although, the rescued girls have met their parents under strict
government supervision, none of them has returned to live with their
parents in Chibok.
The 82 girls, while in the custody of the DSS underwent several
medical tests and treatment. Some of the them were said to have had
bullet and bomb fragments in their bodies and were made to undergo
surgeries.
The girls were warmly received by their other 24 counterparts, who
had been in the camp since they regained freedom October last year.
Alhassan explained that the girls who would be camped till September
would undergo remedial preparation in five subjects – English Language,
Mathematics, Biology, Agricultural Science and Civic Education – after
which they would be enrolled in schools in other parts of the country.
The minister also said 20 teachers had been engaged for the girls who would be grouped into four classes.
She reiterated the resolve of government to give the best care to the
girls through the Presidential Rehabilitation and Re-integration
Committee headed by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.
Alhassan further disclosed that a fully-equipped medical facility has
been set up at their camp with two doctors and two nurses, while the
National Hospital, Federal Staff Clinic and the DSS Medical Clinic, were
open to handle referral cases.
She added that an ambulance would be dedicated to the facility for emergencies.
As part of the comprehensive rehabilitation package, the minister
disclosed that each of the girls would receive compulsory training in
information and communication technology as well as two other skills of
their choice.
“Here, we have 24 girls; remember that these were rescued last year.
They are being joined today by 82 others, who have been certified fit to
live on their own; they don’t have any medical issues any more apart
from the one that we need to put a limb for. This place is their common
room; it will accommodate the 106 of them.
“We have more handlers for the girls now; more doctors, nurses and
matrons. And the programme will end at the beginning of next academic
year in September when we will enrol all of them back to school,”
Alhassan stated.
She further explained that the 24 others had missed the 2016/2017
school year because by the time they were ascertained fit by the
experts, the academic year had gone far.
Shedding light on the condition of the 82 girls, Dr. Okoroafor who
took care of them in the last three weeks, confirmed that they were fit
for the programme.
“We have done the needful for them, profiled them and done all the
investigations; whatever we found out during the investigation, we have
treated them. Some of them require ongoing medical treatment like you
can see one of them has problem with her hand; one is an amputee and one
or two others who have some medical issues that we are still treating
them for. But I can say to you that they are all stable and comfortable
for us to release them. They are stable not just medically but
psychologically”.
Representative of the Acting President, Mr. Nicholas Audifferen
assured that government would stop at nothing to ensure the girls
attained whatever heights they could.
The United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) and United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA), which had been partnering the ministry, were
represented by Mr. Samuel Manyok (Child Development Specialist) and Mr.
Eugene Kongnyuy, respectively.
There were indications that henceforth there will be tight security at the camp.

In an attempt to harness the full potentials and enhance efficiency in service delivery of Niger State, government has created three new ministries and directed the immediate recruitment of 250 graduates into the state civil service.

The state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello who announced this in a statewide radio and television broadcast to mark this year's Democracy Day and the 2nd anniversary of his administration in Minna, the state capital also approved the appointment of 17 new Permanent Secretaries for efficiency and vibrancy of the state civil service.

The new Ministries are; Ministry of Forestry and Animal Resources, Ministry of Solid Minerials Development and Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This brings the number of ministries in the state to 18 from 15.

The governor said the decision to create the new Ministries was informed by the desire to further enhance the full potentials of the state and in fulfillment of the restoration agenda policy of his administration.

According to the governor, in order "to further harness our full potentials in the state, government had decided to create additional three ministries namely; Ministry of Forestry and Animal Resources, Ministry of Solid Minerials Development and Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"I have also directed the State Civil Service Commission to immediately recruit and inject 250 graduates from the 25 local government areas into the state civil service. In addition, I have also approved the appointment of 17 new Permanent Secretaries based on merit and with immediate effect," the governor disclosed.

Governor Sani Bello observed that the state public service has been intensely exposed to damaging partisanship and external influences that have compromosed its integrity and created negative perceptions which make relations with political leaderhip and public school image difficult to manage.

To this end, the governor announced an overhaul in the top brass of the state civil service by directing 16 Permanent Secretaries to proceed on immediate retirement leave while 8 serving Permanent Secretaries are retained and two others who have been in acting capacity had their appointments confirmed.

Gov. Sani Bello said the on-going exercise and changes in the civil service was designed to allow for emergency of a new crop of leadership and to reinvigorate the service and entrench equity and fairness.

An Abuja Magistrate Court has remanded one
Ahmed Echoda in prison for allegedly providing false information to the
police in connection with the raid on the house of Deputy Senate
President Ike Ekweremadu.
Echoda was arraigned yesterday for allegedly misleading the Nigerian Police with information that led to the raid on Friday.
Although the one-count charge indicated two defendants, only Echoda was present in court to take his plea.
According to the charge, the men Echodo and Maiwada Adamu were
accused of conspiring to falsely inform the office of the IGP that
Ekweremadu’s residence at number 10 Ganges Street, Maitama, Abuja and
occupied by Oliver Ogenyi is being maintained and used for criminal
activities, such as the maintenance of arms and ammunitions.
Echodo pleaded not guilty and the Magistrate, Umar Kagarko
subsequently ordered that he be remanded in prison pending ruling on his
bail application fixed for June 5.
Ekweremadu on Saturday said his official Guest House in Maitama, Abuja was raided by the Police on Friday.
The deputy senate president commended the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris for prosecuting the false whistle blower.

Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, left Nigeria,
yesterday, for the United Kingdom, 23 days after her husband left for
further medical consultations.
In a one paragraph statement, accompanied by photographs of Aisha,
arriving Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, her Special
Assistant on Media and Publicity, Adebisi Olumide-Ajayi, said the First
lady is off to spend sometime with her husband.
“Her Excellency will spend some time with her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is presently on medical vacation.
“She expressed her appreciation to the millions of Nigerians who have been praying for his quick recovery and safe return.”
Buhari travelled for further medical consultations on May 7, 2017
while his wife has been busy with her pet project, Future Assured in the
North East, with the focus on empowering women, the girl-child
education and providing care for internally displaced persons in the
North East.
The president left Nigeria on January 19, 2017, on medical vacation to London and returned after 49 days.
On his return, the president disclosed he had never been that sick to
the point where he needed blood transfusion. Buhari also said he would
go back abroad for further medical treatment, which he did 23 days ago.
This time around, the president said he would not entertain visitors as he recuperates.

The Senate yesterday passed an Executive Bill
on anti-corruption, more than 15 months after it was presented by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
The law is crucial to the president’s drive to the recovery of looted funds stashed abroad.
The bill received rapid legislative action when it was read the first
time on February 15, and then the second time on March 10, 2016.
But since then not much was heard about it in both chambers even as
the president continued to sign a string of anti-corruption treaties
with some foreign countries like the UAE and the U.K.
Tagged “the Mutual Assistance in Criminal matters Bill” it is meant
to facilitate the identification, tracing, freezing, restraining,
recovery, forfeiture and confiscation of proceeds of crime, among
others.
The bill, which is to provide mutual assistance in criminal matters
between Nigeria and other foreign states, will provide a legal framework
to strengthen the fight against corruption, terrorism, economic and
financial crimes, money laundering and other related offences.
The bill will also facilitate the voluntary attendance of persons in the requesting state.
It is also intended to facilitate the temporary transfer of persons
in custody to assist in investigations or appear as witness, facilitate
obtaining and preserving of computer data, and providing any other
assistance that is not contrary to the law of the requesting state.
The passage of the bill came weeks after the Minister of Justice and
Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami raised the alarm
that the lawmakers were slowing the pace of the fight against
corruption by delaying the passage of the bill.
The Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Senator David Umaru (APC,
Niger), said the enactment of the law is paramount to the
anti-corruption drive of the government. He pointed out that it would
eliminate territorial jurisdictional constraints in the prosecution of
cross border crimes.
He said the globalisation and advancement in Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) have made it imperative for a legislation
to promote cooperation for the prosecution of cross border offenders
and transnational organised Crimes.
“The passage of the bill will help combating corruption and improve
Nigeria’s image in the international community. It will also serve as a
fiat for Nigeria to be admitted as a member of the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF), “he said.
He added that the scope of the bill had been widened from the Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters in the Commonwealth (Enactment and
Enforcement) Act 2004, to assume international dimensions in
participation and laundering of the proceeds of crime.
In his remark, the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki said the
passage of the bill would restore confidence of foreign investors in the
country.
“This anti-money laundering legislation is a key component of President Muhammadu Buhari’s war on corruption agenda.
“This act will facilitate the needed cooperation with other states to
prevent individuals from escaping prosecution by fleeing to another
country.
“This is the kind of innovative and cooperative anti-corruption
scheme that will truly discourage money laundering. I and my colleagues
applaud the President’s creativity and determination to discourage this
kind of corruption, “he said.
Addressing newsmen, the Senate Spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi
Abdullahi (APC, Niger) said the passage of the bill showed that the
Senate was not against the Anti-Corruption war being waged by President
Buhari.
Bill still pending at House
At the House of Representatives, the bill was read for the first time
on February 17, 2016, and since then nothing has been heard about it.
The bill, supposed to come for second reading is said to be delayed due to a number of reasons.
It was gathered that both the Senate and the House had decided to
stay action on the bill, along with anti-money laundering bill, in order
to “sort out some grey areas.”
However, somewhere along the line, the Senate decided to continue work on the bill, while the House was still consulting.
A source close to the House leadership told Daily Trust last night
that some key members of the leadership had been consulting widely on
the bill in order to avoid a situation where the opposition would “kill
it during debate.”
“It has been under consideration since it was presented, but the
truth of the matter is that we want to avoid making mistakes so that the
opposition lawmakers would not cash in on that. We’ve observed that
there are a number of grey areas to be addressed.
“As a matter of fact, we have met with the Attorney General, the EFCC and other relevant stakeholders to sort things out.
“If we don’t do all this fine-tuning, the bill may not scale through. Of course you know the House is different from the Senate.
“But the consultations will come to an end soon. I believe the House
will soon debate the bill and refer it to the relevant committees,” the
source said.
Attempts to get the official position of the House from the
spokesman, Rep Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) were not successful as
he was said to be out of the country.
Nigeria, UAE’s MoUs on recovery of stolen funds
Nigeria and United Arab Emirates on January 19, 2016 in Abu Dhabi,
signed bilateral agreements on recovery and repatriation of stolen funds
and extradition of culpable officials.
The Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and his counterpart in the
United Arab Emirates, Bin Saeed Albadi, signed the Judicial Agreements
on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance
on Criminal Matters, and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and
Commercial Matters, which included the recovery and repatriation of
stolen wealth.
The pacts were among a series of other bilateral agreements signed by
members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation to the UAE for the
World Energy Forum.
The Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and Commercial Matters allows
the UAE government repatriates stolen monies stashed in that country.
As the Nigerian Senate legalised the pacts, experts said Nigeria can
now demand the repatriation of funds stashed in the UAE and demand the
extradition of Nigerian fugitives resident in that country.
Billions of dollars of Nigeria’s loots are believed to have been
stashed in banks or invested in real estates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
A retired diplomat, Ambassador Sulaiman Dahiru said the next action
now is for the Nigerian mission in UAE to be informed of the details of
the agreement and then pursue the repatriation of looted assets back to
the country.
“What’s next for the government now is to pursue the repatriation of
the looted funds. And in pursuing it, clear instructions would be given
to our embassy there to work very hard and get the funds repatriated.
“There is a standing agreement between Nigeria and UAE and since the
Senate has legalise it, all the details of the agreement in the custody
of either Ministry of Justice or EFCC would be made available to the
Nigerian mission in UAE for it to start working on the repatriation of
stolen asset,” he said.
With this agreement, Dahiru said it was quite possible for Nigeria to
see more of looted assets in UAE recovered and repatriated to the
country.
“Once the law is signed by the president or acting president, the
next thing is to work very hard and get the looted money repatriated”,
he said.
He said efforts must be made to identify Nigerians who had stolen
from the treasury and stashed illicit funds in UAE with their names
submitted to the authorities there.
“It is possible that the government of UAE may have the names of
Nigerians who have properties in that country. What needs to be done is
to ensure that they are identified and their stolen properties
repatriated back to Nigeria,” Dahiru added.

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

The Minister of Communication, Barrister Abdurraheem Adebayo Shittu today Tuesday 30th May 2017, commissioned the newly established Nigerian Army Information and Call Centre (NAICC), at the Headquarters, Nigerian Army Abuja.

This is in line with the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai's determined efforts of making the Nigerian Army accessible, accountable and responsive in the discharge of its Constitutional duties.

The newly commissioned Nigerian Army Information and Call Centre (NAICC) is equipped with modern communication gadgets which is manned by specialists from various corps to monitor and receive complaints from the public through the short code of 193 using any of the telecommunication service providers in the country.

The NAICC is expected to also receive calls or complains from troops serving in various parts of the country. Thus, saving them the stress of using the Social Media.

The payment of N5,000 monthly stipend under the National Cash Transfer Programme of the Federal Government Social Investment will commence in Bauchi State today.

The officials of approved mobile money operator (MMO) who were saddled with the responsibility of ensuring payment/ cash out to beneficiaries at their various localities stated this yesterday after meeting with the Chief of Staff Government House and State Chairman of the Social Investment programmes

A total of 10,800 beneficiaries from 360 communities of 12 benefitting Local Government Areas of Bauchi State are expected to receive N10,000 each being payment of stipends for the month of December 2016 and January 2017 within the next one week.

In another development, the Bauchi State Government wishes to inform its citizens and general public that the N-Power registration portal would be re-open June 13, 2017 as indicated by the NSIP.

The Governor Mohammed Abubakar led administration through the office of his Special Assistant, NGOs hereby assures the good people of Bauchi State of its continued commitment to partner with Federal Government and other partners to improve their living standards.

Signed:

Shamsuddeen Lukman Abubakar
SA Communications to His Excellency the Governor of Bauchi State
30/05/2017

Outgoing Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor, yesterday, insisted that Boko Haram had beendefeated. He noted that statement credited to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State that the terrorists group was only decimated and not defeated was not applicable in military operations.

General Irabor supported his analogy of the defeat by disclosing that no single local government area or piece of territory in the North-East epicentre of the insurgency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states was in the hands of the terrorists group.He said: “Boko Haram has been defeated. They no longer have the capacity to carry out the ferocious attacks on communities like they used to do in the past. Their logistics base has been taken out. They can no longer move in convoys and wreak havoc on communities. “The governor could be looking at the situation from the fact that civilauthority has been affected by displacements of the civil populaceand people are yet to fully return toreclaimed communities, but it is a gradual process. That is understandable.

If I were in his shoes, I would think the same way.”On why troops were still being killed in battle when Boko Haram had reportedly been defeated, Irabor said: “The defeat of the terrorists and reclaiming of territories is not a guarantee that peace is absolute right now. Peaceis a state that is futuristic. ‘’That is why we are still around carrying out clearance operations. It does not mean that the end has come completely. “We also need other stakeholders to play their roles to reach the near absolute peace required. By this, I mean the citizens, returnee IDPs, the state government and others will make absolute peace possible.”Commenting on the milestones made so far in clearance operations, the commander said: “We have made significant gains interms of reducing the arsenals available to Boko Haram. Within the period, so many Chibok girls have been released, though through negotiation but I want to say they were released due to pressure of the military’s action closing in on them.”Describing allegation of late payment of allowances to troops or in some cases, non-payment, as strange, General Irabor said he was not aware of anything of such, noting that in the past when such issues occurred, they were resolved. He said issues of death benefits were being handled by the Army Department of Administration, saying there was procedure for such payments.

Troops rotation has commenced with 600 soldiers Regarding complaints of non-rotation of troops, contrary to the operational guidelines of military operation, the theatre commander said: “We are making arrangement for that. Some of us have been here a long time. But rotation has started. As I am speaking, over 600 troops have been rotated in the last one month. Many troops will be inducted shortly into the operation”. To win the hearts and minds of the citizens of the North East in the fight against Boko Haram, especially in the liberated communities, Irabor said the military frequently provided medical services for the people, teaching support to children, while also educating the citizens on their roles to understand personal security as well as assist the military in general. “We also assist with some infrastructure, such as partial road construction, provision of water and we educate them on the effect of commercial activities that could be injurious to their well being and safety, especially if such commercial activities inadvertentlyhelped in funding Boko Haram activities,” he said.Repentant Boko Haram cleric says Insurgents’ practices unislamic May 24, 2017

Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai yesterday said he has fulfilled all the electoral promises he made to the people.

The governor said this in a state-wide broadcast to mark his two years in office.

“In the last two years, we have done as
we have promised. We have steadily implemented the Restoration
Programme. No segment of our campaign platform has been left untouched,”
he said.‎

The governor said ‎despite recruiting
over 7000 personnel within the last two years, the state’s 2016
recurrent expenditures showed a N5bn reduction in personnel cost to
N21.8bn from N26.8bn in 2015.

He said in 2016, the Kaduna State
government raised N23bn as taxes, levies and interest earnings,
describing it as the highest ever in the history of the state.

‎In education, the governor said his
administration raised primary school enrolment from 1.1m in July 2015 to
2.1m by September 2016, adding that 29% more students sat for WAEC in
2016 than in 2015.

“We renovated 400 of the 4250 public
primary schools in the state before we decided to move to a programme of
school reconstruction to accommodate the growth in population.

“We have broadened access, improved
teacher quality and enhanced school facilities. We are emphatic that
basic education shall remain free for the first nine years. We abolished
levies, provided uniforms and fed 1.5m pupils every school day from
January to July 2016. And to further expand access, we have passed a law
to abolish street trading and hawking,” he said.

On health, the governor said he had
pledged to improve access to healthcare and to improve health outcomes
for people and has done so, adding that his government has secured
accreditation for Barau Dikko Hospital as a teaching hospital while the
Doka hospital on the Abuja-Kaduna Road is being transformed into a
trauma centre.

On infrastructure, the governor said his
government is fixing 414km of intracity roads, while over 2500 solar
street lights have been installed.

The governor said this is in addition to
encouraging farmers in the state through several initiatives. He said
‎the security situation in southern Kaduna has improved.

El-Rufai said in the remaining two
years, his administration will be initiating the BRT scheme, complete
more water projects, build and equip more schools, strengthen the health
sector, build more modern markets and neighbourhood centres and
activate more of the investment projects.

Former Kano State governor, Musa Kwankwaso is one man who
cannot be ruled out when when the achievements of the state for the past
50 years of its existence are enumerated. In this interview with
Stanley Nkwocha and Durojaiye Hassan, he talks about the Kwankwasiyya movement which became the hallmark of his political strides in the state as well as other issues of governance.What was it like growing up; did you ever see yourself becoming governor of a big state like Kano?
I was not born in Kano but in Kwakwaso town, which is about 25km away
from the city. I started my primary education and finished there. From
there I got admission into craft school, Wudil, and then into technical
school and the polytechnic, Kaduna and of course to Middlesex
university. I came back in 1991 and with all the training and education I
had from technical school upwards I started work under the ministry of
water resources which was then called WRECA – Water Resource and
Engineering Construction Agency. It responsible for the construction of
the state. When I came back in 1991, I decided to join politics but in
1992, I contested election as a member representing my local government.
I was so lucky that when I came to Abuja I contested and I won the
election and of course Abacha came and kicked us out. Even though it was
a short period it was very eventful. From there, there was
constitutional conference which I represented six LGAS from Kano in 1995
and of course, after that, we participated in the Abacha experiment,
that time, I was in DPN and when Abacha died, Abdulsalam came and there
was the PDP and other parties, five parties were introduced and I was
lucky also to win election; after winning the election in 1999 we were
there for four years and lost the election in 2003.
I am happy to say that Obasanjo, the then president, appointed me
minister of defence. I was minister till the end of 2006. From there I
resigned my appointment and contested gubernatorial election in Kano but
the government and the party decided that I should withdraw which I did
and I was appointed an adviser. I was there till Obasanjo handed over
and Yaradua nominated me to be an ambassador. Specifically he wanted me
to go to china, but I told him that I wanted to re-organize PDP again
and take over from the party then, the ANPP. Of course they insisted,
but I didn’t want to leave the country. At the end of the day I was
given member of the NDDC, until 2010 when I decided to voluntarily
resign because what I saw in the NDDC was not very good. Some of us were
very angry then. In a matter of months, the president had to dissolve
the board. From there we went back to Kano where we worked so hard to
strengthen the party and I contested governorship election again in
2011.
In the 2015 presidential primary, I contested with Mohammadu Buhari
in Lagos. I didn’t win the ticket for many obvious reasons, but for
somebody who started very late in 2014/15, very late, everybody was
saying that the contest was between Buhari vs Atiku and others. I became
second which I think was very encouraging. So, when I went back, my
people decided that for some reasons they wanted me to come and
represent Kano central. I had a total vote of 758,000 over 780,000 but
in the contest itself, because the same day was the presidential
election, it gave us the opportunity to see many people that were
supporting Buhari and all supporters. That was why we had about
1.9million votes in Kano and we were so happy that other parties could
not match us. We had about 484 councilors and 44 chairmen in a very
peaceful election, nobody was scratched. Also, the 40 state assembly
members are all APC, 24 House of Rep members, 3 senators, the governor
and of course the presidential election. So, I am happy to say that if
you add all these contests, primary and secondary election, I contested
15 times, including the one in 2015 and the one in 2014 in Lagos, and I
won 13 times. So, I thank Almighty God. If you look at it from that
angle, I am also happy that we have done so much. Our philosophy is
that one should do his utmost best at every opportunity given to
him/her. That is the kwankwasia philosophy.
We have done our best in Kano State; you are a witness to that and
anybody who went to Kano before 2011 and on the day I handed over will
be happy that so many things have been done to change the face of the
state. I am happy we succeeded in that and I hope that all governors
that will come after that will continue to consolidate on our own
achievements.

Kano was 50 years on May 27. You had the opportunity of leading the
state between 1993 and 2003 and again between 2001 and 2015. What did
you find worrisome and what strategy did you put in place to
deliberately change that.
Personally, I joined politics not because I had no job, but because I
believed I had something to offer. It was tug of war between me and
the leadership of my agency back then in 1991, many of them thought I
should stay because they saw a future in me. They said it was just a
matter of time and I would become a director and so on an so forth. But
inward, especially for somebody who had travelled much, somebody who had
spent about ten years in Europe where we have seen their politics,
their strengths, weaknesses, and where we read history and geography,
not only of Britain or Europe but across the world, I believed there was
need for me to play some role not only in the ministry or agency of a
state but at the national level. That was why when I came back and
decided to contest the election and of course become a legislator at the
national level. So, that was the beginning and I am happy to say that
my exposure helped me a lot in all this position that I was opportune to
hold over the years. I was so happy that I was able to go round the
world to see things for myself, to see areas where people failed and of
course avoid these areas and areas that people had worked and succeeded.
So, it is not only that in 1999-2003 we had worked so hard, we had just
taken over from the military and what we did was so much that what we
did was not initially appreciated because we took over from the military
and everybody believed at that time that anybody could do at least
what we did.
Therefore, in the 2003 election, many things came to play against us,
especially the sentiment of religion and sharia at that time, which was
started in Zamfara State. Of course, it went across the Northern part
of the country. At that time people didn’t care about your performance,
people didn’t talk much about water supply, agriculture or education,
people were talking about going to paradise and so many people came out
and worked against. At that particular time, sentiments were so high
and coincidentally, then President Obasanjo was contesting against
Muhammadu Buhari. The issue of Christian vs Muslim came in; the issue of
North vs South came in; but to me, based on my experience and belief, I
maintained that party is supreme and that if you are in a political
party you stand by your candidate. At the end of the day, many governors
in 2003 were so scared and said ‘vote for so so candidate or any
candidate of your choice at the presidential level, but vote for me at
the governorship level’. I never did that, I stood by my party and I
stood by our presidential candidate, even when people were saying ‘which
one are you voting, is it mosque or church?’ Of course in Kano if you
think that you know what people will choose, you are deceiving yourself.
If you go to other parts of the country like Enugu and use that
sentiment, you will know what people will choose. So we stood our
ground, we worked so hard but a lot of confusion and the issue of vice
president wanting to contest in 2003 against the sitting president crept
in. That, we felt, was not proper. At the end of the day, there was a
lot of anti-party activities in our state.

What was your reaction when you lost the election?
We lost the election anyway and I was the first governor to accept
defeat. Not only that I accepted defeat, I took the deputy governor
then, who is the governor now, together with my commissioners and went
to the then governor-elect and congratulated him because we see politics
like any game. You go into it bearing in mind that you win this time,
or you lose next time.
So, we lost the election. Right inside me I wasn’t happy that we lost
the election, but I knew I didn’t lose the election because I didn’t
perform or because I did anything wrong to the people. I love them, they
love me, but sentiments just came but I was lucky that Obasanjo
appointed me minister of defence. It was as if I lost the election in
kano, but I got the seat as minister. Many people would ask me, ‘which
one is better, which on is more difficult, which one do you like most’
and all sorts of questions but the issue then was that I spent four
years as governor, but I equally spent almost four years as minister of
defence. With that experience, I got a brand new constituency, very
important constituency which I am still happy to enjoy today because I
believe the constituency still believes that I am a member of their
extended family.
That was a good experience I had, to be in the ministry of defence
for a period of time and member of the NDDC board and adviser in that
eight years. At the end we launched a comeback bid in Kano. At the end
of the day, it was difficult because the president of our party at that
time, or the government at that time was not behind me. They were not
supporting us, the government of the day at that time was under an
opposition party. We were in another party, and we had no adviser, no
commissioners, no chief executive, we had no contracts or appointments
to give to anybody. But you see, we did some programmes when and we were
doing those programmes, we never thought that those programmes were
very important and we would benefit from them. For example, take the
issue of feeding. We were feeding pupils five times a week in all our
primary schools. By the time I left, that programme was stopped. Even
when the federal government selected Kano to be part of the two states
in the North West to be supported I was a member of the committee. For
one month we sent N284 million, but they refused to do it thinking that
it was my baby. So, at the end of the day they refused to do it. By
2011, all those children in the school, many of them were 18 and above
and were ready to vote and they came out. They were not interested in
what you will give them: money or anything.
They did it free of charge and I believe that was when Kwankwasia was
really launched in Kano. People were coming out to voluntarily vote. In
2011 and 2015, people were voting in Kano based on ideology, based on
belief in good governance. We had no federal government, no Police to
support us, no SSS. We had no government in Kano, we had no money but
young men and women came out. These were those who benefited from us. We
empowered thousands and thousands of young men and women in various
trades and sent so many people to schools within and outside the country
and in 2011, they were ready because they had seen the difference
between our first four years and the four years that followed that our
first term. They came to the conclusion that four years was better than
eight years. Therefore, they came out, supported us under that difficult
circumstances and we won election in Kano, both the gubernatorial and
the assembly polls. So, that really encouraged me to say that look, it
is good to be good because I have seen it. If you ask me, how much did
you spend to become governor in 2011, I will tell you zero Naira.
Everything we did, either campaign materials or logistics, people
provided money, to the extent that after the election we even had
surplus, if you asked somebody to come and take his money he will say no
go and celebrate with that money.
So, we thank the Almighty God, we saw the advantages of being good
and that was why all those programmes were not only brought back. They
were also improved, we introduced new ones to the extent that many
people could not understand how we executed them, but we are very happy
that we did because we had already started harvesting what we had done
in the second term. Now if you look around in Kano, you will see
physical developments. We have the best street lights in the country. We
have been adjudged to be the best, we were given so many trophies
because Kano was the most lighted state in Nigeria. We had trophies from
various organization now, in terms of road network, every road that
leads into Kano we dualised them; we fixed street lights, we put
drainage, walkways. We have more walkways than many cities. In fact, I
don’t know of Abuja now, but we had fantastic road network with walkways
and our flyover are the best in the country, they are all there, and
of-course, in many places. I embarked on a very important project on
Jakara River, one river that cuts across so many local governments. I
was personally involved in that project.
But our main area of concentration was education because we believed
education is key for us as a government that was why we introduced the
feeding of children in all our primary schools and we re-introduced it.
You know, the poverty level in this part of the country is very high and
that was very much welcomed by the children and their parents. We
trained and retrained teachers, paid them on the 28 of every month,
built thousands of special classrooms, story buildings, tiles, aluminum
roofs. So many things were done to accommodate the increase of young men
and women and children that were going into primary schools.
Our activities in Kano helped us to increase the number of children
going into primary School from 1 million to about 2.4 million before we
left in 2015 and at the secondary school level, we were able to build 47
technical schools, myself and himself attended two, craft school and
technical school. The craft school I attended was upgraded to technical
school some years ago and now we have four. By the time I went to Kano
in 2011, we had four, but we established 44 and none of those four was
even bigger than any of those schools we built with facilities. We built
over 200 secondary schools in four years. We built schools for Islamic
studies because we succeeded in stopping this almajari system which
didn’t help anybody in the country or in this part. We stopped street
begging. In addition to that we decided to build some institutes. We
built 26 institutes, five under ministry of health; one nursing school,
one post basic midwifery and of course, two midwifery schools. Some are
under education, some under agriculture. We built 26 at the end of the
day and when we were going many of them were attached to either the Kano
State University of Science and Technology which we built in 2001. Now I
understand they have students population of over 20,000 and of course,
there is the North West University in the city of Kano, which was built
in 2012, during our second term. Most of these institutes were handed
over to these universities and now they are making progress. We brought
in special training at all levels.
So there were so many good programmes and projects that we did in addition to what people are seeing today.

Under your watch, Kano had legacies that would never go away from the
state in the next 100 years. What was your source of motivation in
doing all this?
This movement is based on the political ideology of Malam Aminu Kano.
You know Aminu Kano lived and died for the less privileged- the
talakawas who could not afford to go to the hospital. Even when there
are no school fees they still feel the children should go and help them
in the farm, otherwise they cannot get enough food for the year. So,
Mallam fought for the talakawas. Unfortunately, Mallam was not able to
be governor, was not able to be president but all his ideology was there
in books. Those of us who had little opportunity, because we were very
young, we were not even in the field when he died, but we heard little
directly from him and people around him who were our leaders in those
days.
So, we decided to build the kwankwasia ideology based on that
foundation laid by Mallam Aminu Kano. That is why you always see us in
red cap, white gown and black shoes. These red, white, black, was the
colour of the PRP flag and that was the colour of Mallam Aminu Kano
himself. We decided to take that because we have always believed that if
we can adopt that ideology, it will help us and it will help everybody.
Not only that, we were able to say it and put it into practice, Unlike
Mallam Aminu Kano himself. Our own period of four years was not a time
when we had more money than other governments before us or even after
us, but it was that ideology which has a lot of things in there, like
good leadership, hardwork, commitment, transparency etc. All these are
part of kwankwansia. These are the driving force; these are the things
that keep us not only in Kano, but in all the Northern states. Young men
and women are aspiring to be like Mallam Aminu Kano, like kwankwanso
and so on and so forth, which is very good and many of them are in the
background. In fact, out of the over 2600 that went abroad, ABU just
employed 37 of them to be assistant lecturers and they are in so many
universities, at least across the north, and in the next few years you
will find out that many of them are the professors, heads of department,
vice chancellors.
We are so lucky because we sent our best to many countries where they
have now offered them to do PhD in their universities under their
scholarship. We sent about 23 to Texas, USA, and they gave most of them
Ph.D and they are all medical doctors. So, we had done so much right
from primary, secondary and tertiary education. All our teachers who
were not qualified- we had many teachers who had no NCE, the minimum
requirements- we sponsored all of them to go and do their NCE and many
of them have graduated, many are about to finish in many state and
federal institutions. So, a lot is being done in these areas. What is
important is how we are able to mobilize the people to understand our
direction. They worked so hard to support our election and that is why
we were able to make 100% and God willing, if there is election today in
Kano today or tomorrow you will be seen 100% support.

Monday, 29 May 2017

Erstwhile governor of Kogi state, Ibrahim Idris, has denied endorsing a former Deputy Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Emmanuel Omebije, as Governor Yahaya Bello’s replacement following calls for hisremoval by top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. It could be recalled that the call for Bello’s resignation or impeachment was based on the accusation that he engaged inmultiple voter’s registrationwhich is in violation of the electoral laws of Nigeria.

Ex-governor Idris made the denial through a statement he personally signed and issued in Abuja on Sunday night. According to him, those peddling the rumour that he gave Omebije his blessings to mobilise supporters against Bello are self-seeking politicians who wish to drag him into the murky political waters of the state. He added that, in his capacity as an ex-governor in Kogi, he is father of all irrespective of party differences and affiliations and as such cannot be caught fanning the embers of disunity and discord in the state.

The statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to the spurious rumour that I have endorsed a former Deputy Speaker of Kogi state House of Assembly, Emmanuel Omebije, as Governor Yahaya Bello’s replacement.“ I want to state clearly here for the avoidance of doubt that the rumour lacks any iota of truth. It is outright falsehood orchestrated by some self-seeking politicians in the state, who desperately wish to drag me into the murky political waters of the state.“I also want to state categorically that, in my capacity as an ex-governor in Kogi, I am obligated to sue for peace and to maintain unity among Kogi people instead of fanning the embers of political discord through unfounded endorsements and counter endorsements.“I urge all Kogites of goodwill to discountenance the rumour as my primary concern is to galvanize support for the present administration to deliver dividends of democracy to the people

“I further wish to appeal to all and sundry to come together and to remain resolute in the quest to take Kogi to greater heights.”

He, however, stressed that the nation's law does not recognise a time bar for the prosecution of corruption and other crimes.

The acting president, in his Democracy Day speech released early this
morning, vowed that the government would not relent in its efforts
towards apprehending and bringing corruption suspects to justice.

He disclosed that the government was re-equipping its prosecution teams,
"and part of the expected judicial reforms is to dedicate some
specific courts to the trial of corruption cases."

He said: "In the fight against corruption, we have focused on bringing
persons accused of corruption to justice. We believe that the looting of
public resources that took place in the past few years has to be
accounted for. Funds appropriated to build roads, railway lines, and
power plants, and to equip the military, that had been stolen or
diverted into private pockets, must be retrieved and the culprits
brought to justice.

"Many have said that the process is slow, and that is true, corruption
has fought back with tremendous resources and our system of
administration of justice has been quite slow. But the good news for
justice is that our law does not recognize a time bar for the
prosecution of corruption and other crimes."

He said the government was also institutionalizing safeguards and
deterrents by expanding the coverage of the Treasury Single Account
(TSA).

"We have introduced more efficient accounting and budgeting systems
across the Federal Government. We have also launched an extremely
successful Whistleblower Policy. The Efficiency Unit of the Federal
Ministry of Finance has succeeded in plugging leakages amounting to
billions of naira, over the last two years. We have ended expensive and
much-abused fertilizer and petrol subsidy regimes.

"We have taken very seriously our promise to save and invest for the
future, even against the backdrop of our revenue challenges, and we have
in the last two years added US$500m to our Sovereign Wealth Fund and
US$87m to the Excess Crude Account. This is the very opposite of the
situation before now, when rising oil prices failed to translate to
rising levels of savings and investment," he said.

Toad sellers are recording high sales in Hadejia, Jigawa, due to the growing demand of the aquatic animal, the News Agency of Nigeria, reports. The toad is a brown, tailless amphibian with a short stout body and short legs, typically having dry warty skin. Not a popular delicacy in the North, hitherto, toads are now in high demand in some communities of the central and southern parts of the country. A NAN check at the Hadejia Market showed that toad sellers were making brisk businesses due to a significant increase in the demand for the animals.

A long stick, which contains about 20 toads, was sold for N1,000 and asmall stick with 10 toads attracts N450. Toad sellers described the trade as lucrative in view of the growing market. A seller, Alhaji Haruna Shuaibu, saidthat he was making good sales due to the rise in the demand of toads.Shuaibu explained that toad demand had surpassed supply, adding that toads were very rare in the dry season.“ Toad trade is good.

It has attracted many people due to its lucrative nature. Buyers are comingto the market from other states to buy. They prefer dried toads, but some buy fresh ones,” he said.According to him, traders at the market transport hundreds of sticks of toads to other parts of the country on a weekly basis.

Zakari Hadi, a toad hunter, said thathe was making between N2, 000 and N3, 000 from the sales of toads, adding that this enables him to meet his basic financial needs.Hadi said that he used nets to trap and catch toads, adding that the animals were available at ponds in the area.

The Management of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has donated
200 units of two-seater classroom furniture to Sardauna Memorial
College Kaduna in an apparent response to calls by government at various
levels and well-meaning individuals,.‎
Presenting the furniture to the Principal in the presence of a crowd
comprising the old boys association, officials of the State ministry of
education, teachers and students of the college, the Managing
Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Kaduna Electric, Engineer Garba
Haruna described the gesture as “the fulfillment of the Company’s
corporate social responsibility to it franchise area”.
According to him, “Kaduna electric is a responsible corporate citizen
of kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states and shall always identify
with, and support the yearnings and aspirations of the government and
people of the four states.
He called on the school authority to ensure that the furniture are
put to proper use for the benefit of the present crop of students and
even the future generation.
The electricity boss also used the occasion to appealed to
electricity users in the Company’ franchise area to be alive to their
responsibility, stating that the Company must be supported to grow. “The
Company and it host communities are in a mutual beneficial
relationship”, he further stated.
Earlier, the Principal of the College, Malam Baba Sidi Muhammad
Sunusi expressed the appreciation of the College and promised to ensure
that the furniture are properly maintain for long lasting benefits to
the students.
Also, the President of the Sardauna memorial college old boys
Association, SAMOBA who was represented by the Vice President, Mr.
Joshau Gambo commended the Management of Kaduna Electric for the kind
gesture, stressing that it shall go a long way in making teaching and
learning environment more conducive.
He called on other well-meaning individuals and corporate bodies to
emulate what he called “patriotic disposition” of the electricity
distribution company
The Kaduna Zonal Director of the state ministry of education also
pour encomiums on the electricity distribution company urging it to
continue to provide support to noble projects like this.

Sheikh (Dr) Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has declared the President Muhammadu Buhari APC-led administration as a failure.The Islamic scholar said this in his assessment of Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last two years.He noted that the general assessment of government’s performance was below the expectation of Nigerians, and urged Nigerians to reject both the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) if they really desire a new lease of life.His words: “The problem is that no matter how good you are as a leader, you should have a team.

If you put Maradona in a bad team, no one will pass the ball to him in order to score a goal. The APC government has failed for lack of a team”. “Every failure has reasons. When a patient dies inthe hospital, there is usually a post mortem examination to determine the direct cause of death. We have symptoms but they may not be the cause of death. “The widespread suffering in the country is a symptom of an underlying disease afflicting the nation that needs to be tackled. But if the government has been listening all along, it could have alleviated the problem or it could have donemore than it is doing.“I can imagine somebody who has nothing. How is he surviving? How is he paying his children’s school fees? How can he treat his children when they are sick? How can he feed?

So, when you look at all these indices, you will know that it is a miracle that we are still existing. “So, if we want to do a post mortem on this government, you have to look far beyond the inception of the administration. Like I said, they inherited some of the defects and the solution would have been to manage Nigeria as a critically ill patient”.Gumi, a medical doctor, also stated that Nigeria is not united. He said the APC took over a dividedcountry and that what political scientists needed to do at that time was to design a template without dividing Nigeria.“ Now, there is too much hostility and bad blood in the country. All I know is that all Nigerians are one. What we need was someone to correct us”, he told New Telegraph.

“This is the time to bring people together, the kind of leader that Nigeria needs at this critical time is the one that can pacify. Not one that will show that he is clean and the other person is dirty. No. He should show that we are all dirty, let us all come and clean ourselves.“So, the so-called clean party which has the broom, who is it trying to sweep? It is so antagonistic. It is so provocative that it has divided the country. If your house is also dirty, you cannot clean someone’s house. People thought that change is coming when it was not possible to effect that change.

Gumi fumed that top officials were getting away with stealing and corruption and cited examples.“ The allegations of corruption are already been made against the (suspended) Secretary to the Government of the Federation, of a government that is fighting corruption. And the government cannot do anything besides suspension.“ The present administration came to rule Nigeria using the slogan of war against corruption and this is disrupting the unity of the country. The unity of the country is more important than the money that people stole; more important than thecurrent underdevelopment that we are witnessing”.

Asked the way out of Nigeria’s problems, Sheikh Gumi advised that before 2019, politics has to change completely and drastically. “No more APC or PDP”, he declared, adding that “once they continue, Nigeria’s problems will continue.

What I am saying is that they should metamorphose, they should change. When you see a butterfly, there was a time when it was a larva.“ The parties have to change; PDP has to change, APC has to change or it will break because it is an alloy which is not well moulded. We want these parties to change because of the future of our children.“The major defect of APC is that it is a party which was grown by the power of individuals; Buhari in the North and Tinubu in the South West. And there is danger in this kind of politics. Look at Mugabe now, he has suppressed and pinned down everybody in Zimbabwe and he has been winning elections in quote.

“If we continue along this path, Nigeria will be like that. When we have somebody who feels thathe is the Messiah, then we are in trouble becauseas I am speaking to you now, not everybody in the North can speak to you like this.”

​For many villagers in Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State, it was horrific and traumatic dwelling in localities beset by frequent ruthless attacks by bandits.

The men of the underworld were noted to have perpetuated their nefarious activities across the local government area. The Isa-Sokoto road was very much dreaded, forcing many commuters to use the much longer but safer route Sokoto- Goronyo- Sabon Birnin road. “Our people could not go to farms or market to transact business for fear of being attack by the bandits. Life in the area was at a standstill, people where living in fear, especially at night,” recalled Sarkin Kudun Karamawa, Alhaji Aliyu Usman, village head of Kamarawa, one of the villages in Isa. He confirmed that a greater percentage of the villagers had to relocate to Shinkafi in Zamfara State and other neighbouring villages for their safety. “Kamarawa was almost deserted by its inhabitants,” he stated. “It was hell living with the bandits as they didn’t spare anyone and they came to us at will. I was also a victim of their criminal activities when they came to my house one night and took away my cattle and donkey. One of the cows refused to be dragged away so they inflicted injury on its mouth with a sharp object, dumped it and went away,” here collected.

It was therefore to the overwhelming relief of the locals when bandits laid down their arms. When in January this year, retired Col. Garba Moyi disclosed that 27 bandits had pledged to renounce their criminal activities in Isa Local Government Area of Sokoto State, many were sceptical. However, few weeks later, the police commissioner in Sokoto, Mohammed Abdulkadir, confirmed that the repentant bandits had surrendered 40 arms which included AK-47 rifles, pump action guns and pistols, among others. In a bid to assist the repentant bandits to be productive and re-integrate fast into the society, the state government set up amnesty committee for the council.

The local government chairman revealed that under the amnesty programme, 67 penitent bandits had surrendered their arms in the locality. According to the chairman, the initial 55 of them who surrendered their arms had been rewarded with cash, plots of land and farmlands, totalling N30.5million. Those who surrendered sophisticated weapons, such as AK 47, SMG rifles and G3 rifles, among others, were given N500,000 while those who submitted locally fabricated arms received between N100,000 and N200,000. Each of them was also given an assistance of between N 100,000 to N 200,000, to restart life.

The council boss said that the amnesty programme had enhanced peace and security in the area. “The repentant bandits were hitherto involved in kidnapping, cattle rustling and armed robberies, among other crimes. They are now assisting the various security personnel with surveillance and intelligence gathering.”He was full of appreciation to Governor Aminu Tambuwal for initiating the amnesty programme and effectively funding it.One of leaders of those who gave up their arms, 64-year-old Ibrahim, alias Hanazuwa, told Daily Trust on Sunday that he was into banditry to avenge the killings and stealing of cattle by vigilante groups and locals in the southern, north central and eastern parts of Nigeria.“Those people killed all our people, stole their cattle as well as made their children orphans and their wives widows.

The situation compelled us to also take weapons and do to others what they have done to our people,” he revealed. He added: “This banditry is a spill-over of what you hear is happening is some parts of Nigeria. We had to take arms which we bought with what we got from the sale of our cows. We can afford both locally-made and sophisticated arms which we use to harass people and take away their cattle.”What made them penitent and lay down their arms? For Ibrahim: “I was moved by the sermon we received from clerics and counselling from experts, which made me to embrace the state government’s amnesty programme with all my heart.” “I now want to end my life well as a good Muslim to meet Allah in a decent manner and get His forgiveness.”Ibrahim expressed resolve to support the amnesty programme to achieve success. He, however, advised government to honour all pledges made to the second batch of those who have repented and surrendered their arms.Another ex-bandit who gave up his arm, Muhammad Tukur, 40, only re-echoed Ibrahim’s call on government to ensure other repentant bandits are given what had been promised them.This, he said, would go a long way in giving confidence in the amnesty programme.

Sarkin Kudun Karamawa, Alhaji Aliyu Usman, spoke on some events that led to the surrendering of arms by some of the former bandits. He recalled: “At the peak of the bandits’ activities, the late Sarkin Gabas of Gebe was consulted for his advice on how to curb the menace of banditry in the area. He invited the then Isa Local Government sole administrator who visited the area and promised to do something but was slow in action. “Because the situation was getting out of hand, I volunteered and went to Sokoto to the member representing this area at the State House of Assembly, Hon Habibu Halilu Modachi and to Chairman Sokoto State APC Alhaji Usman Dan Madamin Isa who is the son of the soil. ”Usman noted that it was during that time that the father of one of the leaders of the armed bandits in Kagara village, Yano, came to him and declaredthe son’s intention to surrender his weapons and take to the right path.“Yano came to my house one night and declared the same message he sent to me through his father. He requested that my son should accompany him to a destination and together they went to a place in the forest where they met a group of bandits holding a meeting. The area is close to Bangi town in Niger Republic.They discussed issues concerning their intention to surrender.

After the encounter, two of the armed bandits came to me here at Karamawa and declared their intention to quit armed banditry,” he narrated. The Sarkin Kudun Karamawa said after their visit, he went to Wakili of Gebe village who insisted that they inform the council chairman about the development. “The chairman was informed and a date was set aside for their formal declaration to surrender their weapons in public,” he revealed.

The village head harped on the need for people not stigmatize the repentant bandits and urged communities to ensure peaceful coexistence. He commended the state and local governments for their roles in the matter in tackling the menace of banditry. Some of the commercial drivers who ply the Sokoto-Isa road daily were gleeful over the restoration of normalcy in the area.Muhammadu Bako, 50, a commercial driver, said it was almost an every hour affair for the bandits to launch their attacks. “They attacked innocent people driving to or fromIsa in the morning, afternoon or night. Even when your vehicle develops a problem, you have to manage it and continue going till you reach a safeplace before you park and examine it.

That was the situation,” he stated.He recalled: “We enjoyed a temporary peace threeyears ago when a concerned business man in thearea donated three bulletproof vehicles which patrolled the area. The bulletproof vehicles scared away the bandits. It led to the killing of one of their leaders sometime back. After the vehicles developed problems the bandits resumed their activities because the security wasrelaxed. Now that the bandits have decided to surrender their arms, there is no much problem on the roads even as villagers and communities along the road are contributing to maintaining thepeace. ”Sani Attahiru, 55, who spent 15 years plying the road from Isa to Sokoto, said he was a victim of the bandits’ assaults.“They attacked my vehicle on two different occasions while I was conveying some passengers, and twice gave me a sound beating. Now I can travel to Sokoto peacefully and at any time of the day. I can pick a load to Sokoto even at 12 midnight,” he stated cheerfully.

Attahiru applauded the efforts of the local government Chairman and the state government towards ensuring security in the area.The driver called for sustained efforts at ensuringpeace and order on the road and in the communities.

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